4th SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (C)
When Jesus claimed that he was the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy on the one to bring the Good News to the poor, the people gathered in the synagogue were initially thrilled. But when they realised that this meant that Jesus claimed he was the Son of God, they saw him as an imposter and so Jesus had to escape their hands. Jeremiah was a prophet, a man of God who conveyed the word of the Lord to the people. He too had to suffer as a result. In today’s 1st reading, the Lord warns Jeremiah that he will meet opposition but he will be given strength and guidance when the time comes. This applies to us as well. We may meet opposition when we do God’s work or speak in his name, but the Lord gives us the strength and guidance we need. He is looking after us.
THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
Wednesday is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Candlemas Day. Candles will be lit and blessed at 9am Mass but there will be no procession this year.
BLESSING OF THROATS
On Thursday, we commemorate St Blaise, Bishop and Martyr. Throats will be blessed at the end of the 9.00. Mass.
PARISH COUNCIL
The Parish Council Meet on Thursday at 7.45pm in the Canon Smyth Parish Centre.
FIRST COMMUNION PROGRAMME
There will be a meeting for the parents of the First Holy Communion children on Tuesday at 7.45pm in the Canon Smyth Parish Centre. The children have their next session next Sunday, 6th February, at 9am
CONFIRMATION PROGRAMME
The first session for Confirmation candidates is on Wednesday 9th February at 7pm in the Canon Smyth Parish Centre.
Please note that this date has changed from 2nd February
RECENTLY DECEASED
Please pray for the repose of the soul of JAIME TOJEIRO whose funeral Mass will be on Friday 11th February at 10.am. This will replace the 9am Mass on that day.
SUPPLYING IN STANMORE
Fr. David will be away this weekend, celebrating Masses in Stanmore parish, which currently does not have a permanent priest.
PARISH A.G.M.
The Parish Annual General Meeting will take place on Sunday 27th February at 2pm in the Canon Smyth Parish Centre. This will be preceded by a shared lunch which will start after the 12 Noon Mass. We will invite you to bring along a dish of food to share. We will provide the drink.
At the A.G.M. we will be looking back at what has happened and not happened over the last 2 years, consider what we might introduce or re-introduce in the coming year and elect a new Parish Council.
If you would like to nominate somebody for the Parish Council, please speak first to them and then submit their name to Fr Colin by 20th February.
VISIT OF BISHOP SHERRINGTON
Bishop John Sherrington will be visiting the parish on Sunday 27th February and Celebrating the 12 Noon Mass. He will then stay on to meet people at the shared lunch and at the Parish A.G.M which follows.
FOODBANK FOR THE COMMUNITY
Items for the local foodbank can be left in one of the boxes in the porch. Many thanks to those who have donated already. It has been very much appreciated.
RETROUVAILLE
Retrouvaille is a programme to support couples, it brings a positive focus, new hope and helps nourish and grow your marriage ….and you don’t need to leave home, it comes to you!
For confidential information about Retrouvaille’, or to register for the next programme, a Virtual weekend commencing 3rd – 6th March 2022 Call or text +44 788 729 6983. Email: retrouvailleukinfo@gmail.org – or visit www.retrouvaille.uk
Cardinal Vincent Nichols offers a reflection for 2022 looking at the virtues of faith, hope and charity.
As a new year dawns, we look for hope. Surely this next year can’t be as bad as the one to which we’ve said ‘goodbye’?
There are two versions of hope worth pondering.
One is that hope comes when we can look forward to an uncertain future from the basis of a secure present. The unknown prospects of what is to come do not cause us too much anxiety because we are well equipped to face them – individually and as a society. This is the pragmatic version of the virtue of hope
The second version is a reverse image of the first. Hope is the capacity to face an uncertain present on the basis of an utterly secure future. No matter what happens today or tomorrow, the long-term future is secure because it is promised by something beyond the ebbs and flows of ‘outrageous fortune’. This is the Christian virtue of hope, founded on the promises of God made visible in Jesus, the Christ, whose coming we are celebrating.
These too versions stand on either edge of the stage of life, summoning us to decide where to put our trust. They clarify the fundamental options. The choice we make establishes the direction in which we look, the foundation on which we shape our lives.
But there is a great deal of ‘middle ground’, in which our daily activity takes place.
Prudence demands that we make provision now for future eventualities: insurance and saving schemes, health provision, all we do in preparation for ‘the rainy day’.
Charity demands that we act without counting the cost, putting the present needs of others way ahead of our own current security, acting in a self-sacrificing manner, even going as far as making a gift of our very life itself. This is the story of every true love, told and illustrated again and again, constantly transforming the drama of human living.
Such charity points to its deepest roots, in the promise of a secure and totally fulfilling future in the presence of God for ever. This is the hope given by the Christian faith and enacted in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. This hope puts a radically new perspective on today and the days to come, no matter what they bring. This future is secured. Now I can act, in any set of circumstance, with a freedom and generosity which flows forcefully from that promise. This is what saints do.
But we must remember that we constantly see the astonishing goodness, devotion, perseverance and practical wisdom of so many people, made even more evident during the hardships of this last year.
As we start a new year, we may well ponder why it is that so many people act in such generous ways. I firmly believe that it the promptings of the Holy Spirit, that flow of love pouring out of God, that lies as the deepest source of this service. It goes beyond self-interest. It is seeking a future beyond the securities of the present, for they have been shaken. It is the privilege of faith to identify and highlight the well-spring of this goodness: the radical hope given in the promises of God.
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